“So why leave? Wouldn’t they have taken care of your horse during her gestation?”
He was like a pit bull with this. It was unnerving. And he was unnerving enough, just standing so close. “They had a nice setup there, yes, but it was geared toward racehorses, which mine is not. And those facilities are for the horses they own. I was just an employee.”
“Still, it seems like the level of care available would have been superior to anything you could get out here. I mean, it’s not like they’d refuse to help if she was in trouble, right?”
She tensed. She really had to divert this line of questioning right now. So, she made an abrupt decision to go on the offensive. “I know you said she didn’t send you down here, but has Kate said something to you? About me? Or Springer—my horse?” she added, when he frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just—I hope you’ll pardon me for saying this, but you really don’t look all that excited about the prospect of getting on a horse. Is there another reason that you came down here? All these questions about my horse—”
His lips twitched, but the amusement didn’t go anywhere near his eyes. “Perhaps the interest wasn’t so much in your horse, but in you.”
Even knowing he was just deflecting her question—there’d been no evidence that he was coming on to her—his claim still made her pulse jump. “I wouldn’t think I’d be your type,” she answered, this time with complete honesty. Why not?
He cocked his head, and now there was interest in those midnight eyes, but she couldn’t be certain exactly what the source of it was. “Perhaps,” he said, at least being honest about that much. “But, as you said, people are complex animals, and who can explain the reasons for attraction?” He moved slightly closer, hardly discernible, except she suddenly had a hard time breathing. “Watching you work out there, with that abused horse, was fascinating. You have a way with them that I find intriguing. And so it follows that I find you intriguing. Does it have to be any more complicated than that?”
He was standing far too close—at least, that was the excuse she used for taking a slight step back. “I—I suppose not.”
He didn’t allow the escape, minor though it was. A small step and he was even closer to her than before. “Besides, if I wasn’t here for riding lessons, or because I wanted you…then why else would I be here?”
She didn’t even hear the rest of whatever else it was he said. She was still hung up on the because I wanted you part. Dear Lord. Where was that fan? Or a nice bucket of ice, maybe. When he turned it on, the heat was so intense, she felt scorched clear down to her toes. She had muscles quivering in places that she’d normally have to be naked to have quivering, and he hadn’t so much as laid a finger on her.
And, God help her, in that moment, she certainly wanted him to lay fingers and a whole lot more on her.
Trying desperately to shake herself free from such a spellbinding haze, she broke away from his intent gaze and turned to look out over the paddock beyond the open barn door. She didn’t care if she was being obvious, or rude. If she thought she could have fanned herself without him seeing, she would have. Her cheeks were probably bright pink. And other parts of her—well, she didn’t want to think about what other parts of her were doing. Instead, she was eternally grateful for her baggy bib overalls at the moment. Her nipples were so tight they hurt.
“I don’t know,” she managed, her voice more of a croak than anything, which further mortified her. He was probably vastly amused, or, at the very least, used to having this effect on women. The thought didn’t help much, though, and she kept her gaze carefully averted while she once again scrambled to shore up her defenses. “That’s why I asked. Me being the new hire, maybe Kate is concerned about something?” She steeled herself and made an attempt at a casual glance in his direction, though it cost her. His gaze was still connected to her like a tracking beam on a heat-seeking device. She swallowed, but her throat was too dry to manage it. “If that’s the case, or if you, Mac, or Finn are worried about something, you can ask me straight out.”
So much for rule number two about not showing aggression, but she couldn’t help it. She wasn’t one to sit and wait for the axe to fall. She liked to take control when she could. Years of harnessing the energy of fifteen-hundred pounds of bullheaded horseflesh likely had something to do with it. “There’s no need for pretense.”
There was no outward reaction to her challenge; his gaze didn’t so much as waver. All he said, was, “What would Kate have told me?”
“What?”
“I asked after your horse’s welfare, and you responded by asking if Kate had talked to me. What would she have told me?”
Elena was nonplussed for a moment, trying to mentally backtrack over their conversation, but at this point he had her so discombobulated, she couldn’t think fast enough. “I, uh, I wasn’t sure what you knew about me and what you didn’t.”
“Not much. Just that you worked with racehorses and left a pretty nice place to bring your pregnant horse here, to a very small place in the middle of nowhere.”
He was worse than a pit bull. Pit bulls could take lessons from him. “Hardly the middle of nowhere. The farms here, if you can call them that, are more like mansions with acreage and stables. And tennis courts. I think I even saw a private golf course on one.”
His lips might have twitched the tiniest bit at that. At least he didn’t mind spunk. Which was a good thing, because she was feeling a mite more spunky, the longer he dragged this out. She wanted to demand that he tell her what his real motives were, but she’d pushed in that direction about as hard as she could without jeopardizing her job. And she needed to stay here. Pit bulls notwithstanding, in every other way, Dalton Downs was perfect for her needs. Being back out on the road again was not.
“You might have a point there,” he said. “But, with the occasional exception, this isn’t exactly race country.”
“True, but it’s not unfamiliar territory for me, either. My father was a show horse trainer. I was raised in this kind of environment, at least the working side of it. So, if you’re questioning my background or abilities, the type of control and basic training Kate is looking for with her school horses is well within my field of expertise.”
“As I said earlier, even someone who knows nothing about horses can see you know your stuff. I wasn’t questioning your abilities.” He studied her face. “Are you always so defensive over a little conversation?”
So much for going on the offensive and taking control. All she’d managed to do was encourage more of it. Great. But she couldn’t back down now. “When I understand the nature of the conversation, no.” She turned to face him, forcing herself to hold his gaze steadily, despite what it did to the butterflies in her stomach. And the painfully tight points of her nipples. “I apologize if I seem rude in any way—I really do. I didn’t mean to. I guess I’m just trying to understand the dynamics here. You and your partners have power at Dalton Downs, and a strong connection to my boss. I haven’t been here long enough to learn the politics of who’s who and what’s what. I like my position here—I’d like to keep it. I have no problem fitting in some lessons for you. But if there really is anything else on the table here, then I’d appreciate it if you’d say so, so I don’t inadvertently step on anyone’s toes. Or jeopardize my job.”
He seemed to ponder that, and she braced herself for his response, already mentally kicking herself for being so outspoken. But she had a horse to protect, and herself to protect, and she couldn’t afford to sit back and find out too late that there was something going on she wasn’t aware of. Call her paranoid, but better paranoid and safe than paranoid and—she didn’t want to go there.
“Your job doesn’t rest on you giving me lessons, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“And the personal interest?”